As scanning devices and scanning services grow in popularity, the file size of the scanned images becomes more of a concern as the files impose a burden on network and storage systems. For example, many companies and organizations archive both incoming and outgoing email which places an ever-growing burden on the storage systems. The relatively large file sizes of scanned images also imposes a bandwidth burden on the networks over which the scanned images may travel.
Generally, three types of halftone choices are used for rendering binary image scans for export or storage, namely: error diffusion, hybrid, and cluster dot. For systems having a post processing capability, error diffused images may also be post processed by cluster dot halftoning. Additionally, many scanning systems, based on the orientation of the input documents being scanned, automatically rotate the scanned image to place the scanned image in a preferred reading orientation for the benefit of those viewing the images. It would be beneficial therefore to have a system and method which automatically produces halftone images which yield a reduced file size when compressed by various commonly used compression techniques, regardless of whether an image rotation occurs before performing the image compression.